Pac-Man and our family have a long history together.
To be more specific, Ms. Pac-Man and Adam have a deep and meaningful relationship that developed long before our own (and that’s saying something, cause I nabbed him young). It’s an ongoing love affair. When Adam and I started dating in high school I had heard of and played Pac-Man, but really, he never made a significant impact on my life. Then I met Adam, and I learned a few things…
- Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man are different, and the original evidently doesn’t hold a candle to the awesomeness of the sequel.
- There are two types of Ms. Pac-Man machines…fast ones and slow ones. And certain high school boys that I find desirable will only play the fast ones.
- Good girlfriends know where all fast Ms. Pac-Man machines are located within a 10-mile radius of any date location and are always prepped with an ash tray full of quarters.
So while I spent my after school hours at cheerleading practice, Adam and our youth pastor spent them engaging in epic Ms. Pac-Man showdowns. Don’t you just love nerdy men?
These costumes are super easy to make. It’s great costume because everyone loves nostalgia, but really, this is lazy mom stuff. The hardest part is convincing your three-year-old that he wants to be a colorful ghost for Halloween and not a dragon. That takes some time, and some you tube videos, and some stories about how cool his daddy is.
 Here is what you will need…
Supplies –
- four sheets of posterboard (or cardboard, or whatever)
- scissors
- yellow tempra paint
- foam brush
- Sharpie (blue and black)
- white felt
- fabric glue (or any glue really)
- plain colored t-shirts (blue, orange, pink, or red, if you want to get technical)
- red paint or sharpie
- rope, or something for shoulder straps
- String and pen (for making a perfect circle)
First, the ghosts. Did you know that the ghosts in Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man have names? Prepare yourselves …. they are Blinky (red), Inky (blue), Pinky (pink) and Sue (orange). Though in original Pac-Man the orange ghosts name is Clyde. Don’t you feel smarter? How did you manage life before learning this important information?
Next, the happy couple. I’m thinking the photo collages are pretty self-explanatory…
I think we may need to examine that second step a little closer though….
That, my friends, is a preschooler that stopped running amok and quietly painted Pac-Mans for over an hour. Over an hour. I’m thinking we should have made Pac-Mans for all our friends.
Here are my little ghosts (ahem, Inky and Sue…sorry about that Sue thing Levi).
(No, Elijah isn’t sporting the oh so popular “duckface”… he is, in fact, spitting. His new favorite thing to do.)
So that was our costume this year! Anyone else make a fun family costume this year? And have you eaten all the good chocolate candy out of their bags yet? I just discovered peanut butter M&M’s this weekend. Mmmmm….
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So cute! :) Look at them :)))
I love simple costumes! … In fact, I am loving your blog! I just happened upon it yesterday and have spent wayyyyy too much time reading through your stuff! Great stuff!
Thanks Tisha!
there is no way you just discovered peanut butter m&ms. i feel like a terrible person for not telling you that your favorite combo existed in that form!
Seriously Kate… friend fail. Those suckers are way better than reeses pieces. I caught Adam giving the boys a bag as a bribe, and was like “WHAT are you DOING?!? Don’t you know they’ll poop for twizzlers?”
Now Adam and I have something in common…I also have a long and involved history with Ms Pacman! Omg, how many hours I wasted…. In addition to fast machines, I also wanted the tabletop variety, which are even scarcer, my friend. You sound like you were an awesome girlfriend, lol! Once I went to a party, which was boring, then it turned out some guy down the hall had a tabletop Ms.P and we wound up there until the the early hours, having massive tournaments (and no quarters needed, double awesome!) Ah, the memories.
The costumes are great. The little ghosts are so cute!! And that’s a lovely series of pix of Elijah painting. Clearly, he was very much enjoying himself. :)
P.S. I finally got started on my new/old blog. I changed it around to more of a life blog. Consider yourself invited to go check out the first post!
Oh my gosh Ashley! SO cute!! I love the very Zen look of concentration on Elijahs face as he paints the Pac Mans. Adorable. Here in Australia we’re really only just starting to celebrate Halloween… I had my first trick or treater this year! Meanwhile, I’m doing a blogging eCourse, and when asked about my inspirations I named you. Just wanted to let you know :)
Sam, that means so much! Thank you!
Love it. So cute and so simple. Will have to keep this in mind for next year if my kids want to dress as a theme. So far they each do their own thing.
Just discovered peanut M&M’s!?! Oh my! They are only the best M&M out there! Love the family theme! :)
Ashley,
I cant believe it!
Your family is so cute!
You look great!
THe kids are really in to it.
Daddy looks a little reluctant though! Hah! I can understand why though!!
<3
Bia
I think this is really cute! I do agree that 20 is probably the cutoff age as the youngest people will know what Pacman is!
ZOMG! PACMAN… my pops used to hold the highest score in the arcade back in the day! Such an adorable family costume idea! Off to pin the bageezes out of it!
Stay fabulous, Ashley!
Girl… you are hilarious!! And so creative. Your ideas are so clever and original and your blog is one of my favorites… I don’t usually read through a blog, just get to the directions – but I can never stop reading yours and always want to read more!! And I laugh out loud, and have even teared up reading. LOL I just get it. We have so much in common I wish we lived closer!! I KNOW we would be the best of friends! HA! Except, the peanut butter M&M’s I discovered a little over 3 years ago while pregnant with my youngest nugget, Phoenix – and I have been ADDICTED ever since. They are the best thing ever!! I have always LOVED peanut butter and chocolate (anything Reese’s, esp my most recent obsession of Reese’s Sticks BEFORE the discovery of peanut butter M&M’s!) Anyway, I could go on and on about how much I enjoy your sight and all of the inspiration and COURAGE you give… HAHA! So please don’t stop!! I have been researching how to start my own blog to follow my little DIY journey through our home… in between cleaning out as much as I can to have a much needed garage sale… my attic has been taken over by boxes and boxes of stuff for it and if I don’t have it soon my husband will prob call someone to come take it all away! LOL But I need to have it to get money towards things the kids need now. Anyway, thanks again for the great blog!! It’s refreshing to see a couple so close and so responsible with the way you work together. Very cool!
Thank you for sharing your idea on pacman costumes! Exactly what I needed to make my son’s this year and I’m NOT a crafty person. But this seemed doable. So THANK YOU for sharing online! All the credit to you!